半天筍之成分分析及急毒性評估

The Ingredients Analysis and Acute Toxicity Evaluation of Areca Tender Shoot

咀嚼檳榔嚼塊在台灣、印度及東南亞等國家都是很盛行的一種習慣。流行病學的研究已證實咀嚼檳榔嚼塊與口腔癌的發生有很高的相關性。而檳榔嚼塊中的檳榔生物鹼、檳榔多酚、銅離子、檳榔相關的亞硝胺化合物及咀嚼時產生的活性氧化物等都被認為與口腔癌的發生有關。在台灣，檳榔的種植面積約50,167公頃，當檳榔園廢作時，檳榔生長頂端的檳榔心〈半天筍〉則可做為食材，為台灣獨特的食用方式。但食用半天筍後，是否有任何生理上的作用則不得而知。因此本研究欲分析半天筍所含生物鹼及檳榔總多酚的含量，並評估其在動物體內的急毒性。先以兩種不同的溶劑萃取半天筍後，以層析管柱分離並用紫外光偵測其生物鹼含量。檳榔總多酚則是以Folin-Ciocalteu的呈色反應來分析。急毒性試驗則是以胃管灌食SD大鼠每公斤體重2000毫克最大劑量的萃取物後，偵測其體重及心跳、血壓等心血管參數。結果顯示以0.1%的醋酸可有效的萃取出生物鹼及總多酚，每克半天筍中約含129毫克的檳榔鹼及0.4毫克的總多酚。單一大劑量灌食丙酮的半天筍萃取液後，雌性SD大鼠的心跳明顯加快。而醋酸及丙酮的半天筍萃取液則均使雌性SD大鼠的平均血壓明顯增加。由此結果可知，若攝取大量的半天筍可能會影響心跳及血壓，因此建議食用半天筍前最好先以醋酸處理過，去除其內所含之生物鹼及總多酚，以降低其可能之風險。

Betel quid （BQ） chewing is a popular oral habit in Taiwan, India, and many Southeast Asia countries. Epidemiological studies have correlated the BQ chewing with the development of oral cancer. The BQ ingredients, including arecoline, areca polyphenol, copper, areca nut specific nitrosamines, and reactive oxygen species generated during chewing, are considered to be the major contributing factors to oral cancer. The farmland for the betel palm （Areca catechu） has about 50,167 km^2 in Taiwan. The terminal part of the areca stem （tender shoot） is locally consumed as vegetable when the betel palms fall into disuse. The physiological effects after consumption of this edible part of Areca catechu, however, have not been reported. The object of this study was to quantitate the contents of alkaloids and total phenolics in the tender shoot of Areca catechu, then to estimate the acute toxicity in animals. The content of tender shoot was extracted by four different solvents. Laboratory analysis of alkaloids was performed by HPLC and UV detector. The content of total phenolics in the extracts was determined spectrometrically according to the Folin-Ciocalteu procedure. The body weight and the cardiovascular parameters were estimated when oral gavage the extracts with a single high dose （2000 mg/kg） in SD rats. The alkaloids and total phenolics were efficiency extracted by 0.1% acetic acid. The arecoline contents were 1.29 mg/g and the total phenolics were 0.40 mg/g in tender shoot extracted by 0.1% acetate, separately. In a single high dose oral gavage, acetone tender shoot extracts increased the heart rate in female SD rats. Acetate and acetone tender shoot extracts also increased the mean blood pressure in female SD rats. These results suggest that ingestion of large amount of tender shoot may affect the heart rate and blood pressure. In addition, this study also indicated that pretreatment of acetate might reduce the risk of ingestion of areca tender shoot.